A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love
by simply-aly
Summary: Part 1 of 2: Katara isn’t a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her to a lot more than that. This is Katara's story. How she discovers her past, controls her present, and forms her future. :ZxK:
1. The Legend

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 1. The Legend

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

Disclaimer: Um, I don't exactly own Avatar: The Last Airbender, 'cuz if I did, I certainly wouldn't be sitting here typing this.

**Author's Note: Okay, I know that these plots are way overused, but I haven't been able to get this story off of my mind, and I didn't even know it was overused until I checked this website just a few days ago. Well, I just wanted to get that out of the way.**

_**The Legend**_

Katara awoke from a dream. In the dream, she was little—maybe five—and her mother was telling her a story. No, it wasn't a story, but sort of a legend. Katara had always loved to hear her mother tell her that story. She never tired of the story, and her mother's words never changed. It wasn't written down anywhere, and Katara never understood how her mother could tell the same story over and over again without changing even one word.

Once Katara and Sokka's mother died, Katara seemed to remember her mother's story more vividly. She could even, to an extent, picture the characters in her mind. As she grew up, and the more she thought about it, she came to the conclusion that the story wasn't just a story, or a legend, to her mother. Katara felt as if her mother had a personal connection to it.

The girl looked at the stars above her, and remembered being that young, when life wasn't so complicated…

_Once upon a time there was a beautiful Princess from the Northern Water Tribe._ Her mother would say, Katara always liked to think that that Princess was her mother. _This Princess's name was Selena; she was always allowed to have whatever she wanted. Her father was the king, and was too busy to take care of her. Her mother was the queen, and was always standing up for Selena. You see, Selena wanted only one thing, and her father wasn't about to let her have it. Her mother understood, but would not stand up to her father, for fear of what her father would do. Her father had a nasty temper, and couldn't be bothered with what he referred to as 'Childish Wants.'_

_Selena wanted to find love, but her father wouldn't let her. Her father wanted her to marry a rich guy who would take over for him as king when the time permitted, but Selena wanted to marry a handsome young man who loved her for not what she had, but who she was._ Katara liked that part best, because Katara had always felt that she wanted the same thing. _When Selena turned sixteen, she was only a year away from marriage, but would not accept any offer. Her mother tried her best to get her the very best eligible men, but Selena wouldn't have any of it._

_Her father, by this point was getting angry, and couldn't understand why his daughter wouldn't obey his orders. So he locked her up in a tower, and was only allowed to come down to see the men she could choose to be her husband. Selena would not give in to her father's ridicules punishment so she stayed up in that tower until she was seventeen._

_Selena never hinted that she liked any of them, and she didn't, but she did like someone. _Every time her mother said this part, her eyes lit up and she smiled a little bit. _Selena was in love with a man from a different nation. The fire nation. _Katara would always gasp when she heard this part._ This guy's name was Roji. He was just a normal guy. Even though the guy was poor, and even though there was a war, and even though the two were natural enemies because of their nations, Selena and Roji loved each other deeply. _

_So deeply that Selena would climb out of her ten story tower window to see him. When Roji was to join the fire nation army and go out to war, they were devastated. Selena and Roji had one last day together before they were to be separated. _

_A few weeks after Roji's departure, Selena found out that she was having a baby. Desperate to find a husband for Selena before they would stop liking her, Selena's father told her that she could pick her husband. There was a man who had lost his wife when she gave birth and had a two-year-old son to take care of. She liked the man instantly, because he reminded her of Roji, they married, and her husband, let's call him Rokel, raised Selena and Roji's baby girl, and raised Rokel and his ex-wife's baby boy._

_Rokel was not of any royal family, and had refused to accept the position of king. So Rokel and Selena went away to live far away where they and their children would not be discovered. Selena and Roji's baby girl, and Rokel's baby boy grew up as brother and sister, not knowing that Rokel was not the girl's father. Selena and Rokel lived in the Southern Water Tribe after that, and raised their kids to be normal kids, not knowing that the girl was the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe._


	2. The Necklace

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 2. The Necklace

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

**Author's Note: I know Katara and Sokka's father's name is Hakoda, but I changed it to fit this plot. I hope it isn't too confusing.**

_**The Necklace**_

Prince Zuko fingered Katara's necklace. For some reason he couldn't give it back to her, and for that same exact reason, he couldn't put it down. There was something about that necklace. Something that was…powerful…in a way. He couldn't make sense of it at all, and wondered why she had it. He could tell, at best that it was a necklace to be proud of owning.

As if he reading Zuko's mind, Iroh came in. Zuko rolled his eyes, sighed, and asked, "Would it really trouble you so much to knock, Uncle?"

Iroh looked confused for a moment, "Actually, the thought has never crossed my mind, but I came to ask you if you wanted any tea…" Iroh was looking at the necklace that his nephew was fiddling with. "Do you know what that is?" he asked Zuko, a serious expression crossing his face.

"No, I was hoping you could tell me, I found it, it was the water peasant girl's…well it was before she dropped it."

Iroh looked bewildered, "The water peasant… she does sort of look like Roji, and her eyes, they are exactly like Selena's. How did I not notice that before?"

"Uncle, you aren't making any sense, who are Selena and Roji? And what do they have to do with the girl." Zuko inquired.

"Ok, basically, Selena was the Northern Water Tribe Princess, she fell in love with a firebender named Roji, they had a baby girl, Roji went off to war, and died. Selena met a man named Rokel who had a two-year-old son, and they married. They disappeared, and were never heard from again." Iroh told his nephew, "Now if I can put this together, Katara's mother, Lena would really be Selena. Her brother is really her step-brother, and her father is really her step-father."

Zuko was taking all of this in. "What does this have to do with the necklace?" he asked, still not getting the whole picture.

"The necklace is given to the person who is supposed to take the throne. Selena's father had it, then Selena, now her daughter. The necklace possesses a certain power, it makes the waterbender stronger." Iroh stopped. "That is enough history for one night, go to sleep Prince Zuko." He said, and retired for the night.

Zuko couldn't sleep that night. He kept thinking about that girl. He knew he could use his new found knowledge somehow; he just had to figure it out.

The next morning he told the captain that they needed to stop at the next town and pick up supplies. "But we just stopped two days ago." The captain said. The Prince just gave him a look, and the captain changed his mind, "Sure thing, Prince Zuko," was his final answer.


	3. The Truth

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 3. The Truth

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

**Author's Note: I know that the way things went down are not exactly played real well, but I couldn't figure it out. And I know that Aang, Katara, and Sokka were going to the Northern Water Tribe, but let's just say that they didn't know a lot about it. You'll see what I mean as you read this. This takes place around the end of The Waterbending Scroll, maybe a little afterwards I haven't exactly figured it out yet. Tell me what you think.**

_**The Truth**_

Katara, Sokka, and Aang went to the town by the shore. They all knew that it was a bad idea, but they also knew that they needed some food. They needed a decent night's sleep too. Looking for a place to stay, an elderly lady knew that Aang was the Avatar and offered to let them stay at her house. "It might be a trap!" Sokka warned franticly when Aang said that they needed some sleep.

"Oh yeah, Zuko so managed to blackmail this nice old lady into getting us to stay at her house so he could come and take Aang." Katara snapped at her brother. They all needed some sleep, and they all knew it.

"You said it, not me." Sokka muttered quietly. Katara sent him a glare, which clearly said, 'Stop talking or you won't be able to,' and Sokka stayed quiet after that. They all fell asleep after the Water Tribe boy's outburst on their given cots.

The next morning the gang went shopping for supplies. It took them until evening. Then they decided to go exploring around the town. They said that they would meet back at Appa in an hour. There was no sign of the Fire Nation ship, so they felt comfortable splitting up. Sokka didn't like the idea, so he checked up on Katara and Aang every ten minutes. Katara wondered around aimlessly, trying to find something to entertain herself with. Aang was looking at the animal whistles. Sokka was wondering around finding Aang, then Katara, then Aang, then Katara.

Right after Sokka ran off to find Aang; Katara saw someone that looked familiar. She took a deep breath, and turned around. She didn't want him to spot her. She pretended to be interested in the stand that was in front of her. It happened to be a clothing stand. There were beautiful silk dresses there; reds and blues and pinks and purples and whites and greens and oranges and yellows. She was taken away by the beauty of them all. Suddenly she felt something change. She looked behind her and, as fate would have it, the banished Prince was looking directly at her.

He smirked and she wanted to run, to tell Aang to go find Appa and get out of this town; but she couldn't move. He was so close to her now, that running would do no good. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, and as much as she tried to stop it, she felt shivers run up and down her back. But was it completely from fright? "There are a bunch of dresses on the ship for you." He said. This comment threw her off guard.

"Why would they be on your ship for me?" she asked him pointedly.

He looked at her. She gave no sign that she knew what he was talking about, because she had no idea what he was telling her. "You have no clue, do you?" he asked her. She shook her head. "Selena, Roji, Rokel?"

"Y… yes, I know about the legend, but what does that have to do with me?" Katara asked.

"You aren't playing with me?" Zuko asked the girl. She looked mystified. He sighed. "You are Lena's daughter, are you not?" Katara nodded. "Well, as my Uncle informed me last night, Lena is really Selena. And since she is dead, that makes you the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe." Zuko said.

"My mother told me about Selena, and her daughter, but she never said that the story was true, or that I was the daughter." Katara defended.

Zuko laughed, "Did you honestly think that she would tell you?" he asked. She gave no reply. "Anyway, most of the people that used to live in the Northern Water Tribe left it when your grandfather died. The fire nation wants the land, but can't get it without a relative of Selena to sign the paperwork…" Zuko was still talking, but Katara was no longer listening.

_This can't be true, I can't have been a Princess, and not knew anything about it, but from what my mother told me, it would make sense, but the legend says that Selena had a baby girl with some guy from the fire nation…_ The realization hit her like a ton of bricks, she was half fire nation. "No," she whispered more to her self than to anyone. _If it is true, I can't sign away my land to the fire nation, to my other nation, it just isn't right…_ "I… I won't do it," Katara finally said.

"You either get on my ship willingly, or I will use force." The Prince informed her. "Yes, my father wants the Avatar so he can kill him, but he wants that land too, and I'm sure I could get my honor back if I bring him the one person that could give him the Northern Water Tribe land." Zuko said.

"What did you say about Aang?" Katara asked.

"Aang… oh yeah, the Avatar, well, my father wants me to bring him the Avatar, so I will be allowed back into my nation…" Zuko was saying.

"Yeah, I heard that already, tell me something I don't know."

"Oh you mean killing him." Zuko said, "My father wants the Avatar dead so he can go on trying to rule the fire nation, along with the rest of the world." Zuko said it as if it was nothing more than everyday conversation; then again, maybe it was to him.

Katara considered her options, she knew it was either her peoples land, or the death of the Avatar, and she didn't know which one she rather she lost. Her people wouldn't want to lose their land, but Aang was her friend, and she didn't want to see him dead. "Okay, I've come to a decision." She told the Fire Nation Prince.


	4. The Searching and Hurting Pain of Words

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 4. The Search and The Hurting Pain of Words

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

**_The Search and The Hurting Pain of Words_**

Sokka went to find Katara, but couldn't find her anywhere. He was worried about his little sister, but he didn't show it. He wasn't allowed to show how he felt, it made him feel weak. He went to find Aang. "Hey, Sokka, haven't you just checked up on me?" Aang asked, "Shouldn't you be looking for Katara?" Aang smiled as if he was teasing Sokka for being worried.

"That is the problem exactly." Sokka explained as he gasped for breath. He had had to run to find Aang, and was hoping that he wasn't gone too. "I tried to find Katara, but she is no where to be found. I was hoping she was with you, but from what you said, she isn't so…" but Sokka didn't finish, because Aang was already up in the air searching for Katara.

Aang searched the whole town, and the entire village, but Katara wasn't anywhere to be found. He went back to find Sokka. "She isn't in the town, and she isn't in the village either." Aang told a worried Sokka.

"That son-of-a—he took my sister!" Sokka screamed. Everyone in the town turned to look at him. "Uh, I said that kind of loud didn't I Aang?" Sokka asked his friend. Aang didn't answer, because he was too focused on what he knew. _If Zuko has Katara, what is he going to do with her? Would he hurt her? Or worse…would he kill her? Can she take care of her self? Is she alright? What if Zuko doesn't have her, but someone far more dangerous?_ "Aang…Aang…can you hear me? Aang?" Sokka was saying.

Katara was escorted, by a guard, to the suite in which she'd be staying. She was a little nervous about the whole thing. She knew that Zuko has been after Aang ever since he saw that he was alive, and she didn't know if the whole thing was a trap, but she figured she might as well hope for the best. If it isn't a trap, Aang's life will be spared, and he will be free to restore all the nations to peace… if it was a trap, Aang will follow Zuko's ship until it gets to the fire nation Palace and he will die. Katara shuttered at the thought. She stopped thinking when she realized that she was at the door to her suite.

She opened the door and shut it. She heard footsteps so she figured the guard was gone for awhile, she sighed. _If I ran away, I would most likely be burned to a crisp, and if I even made it out of the ship alive…_ She didn't want to think about it, so shelooked around her room. The first room was her bedroom. Her bed looked comfortable enough, with clean sheets on, and a warm comforter. It was a large bed, and an even larger room. Her bedroom also had a table, and chairs for two. _Why do I need two chairs, this room is only for me,_ she wondered. Then she went to the door that was on the left wall. It was her bathroom; a simple one at that, it had a toilet, a sink, and a bathtub. She walked out of her bathroom, and went to the other door, the one on the right wall. It was her walk-in-closet. She expected it to be empty, but it was full of clothes. _The dresses from the stand, among others, _she thought. She was looking at all of them when she heard her door open.

She wasn't surprised, it was his ship after all, and she looked over toward him with a bored look on her face. She wasn't about to let him know that what he was doing to her was unbearably painful to endure. She hated being on his ship, and she hated even seeing him. "Is there something you want Prince Zuko?" she asked him, giving him no emotions whatsoever in the words.

"I was just making sure that you were still here." he replied just as emotionless.

Katara laughed at this. "Did you really think I was going to try to escape?" she asked him. When he didn't give her an answer, she continued, "Wouldn't that have ruined the point of coming on the ship in the first place?"

"Well…"

"Yeah, it would wouldn't it Prince Zuko?" she asked. She wasn't happy about being on this ship, she wasn't happy about finding out about her past, and she certainly wasn't happy about having to deal with the stubborn Prince for the rest of forever. Zuko left then. She smirked_, no wonder he does it so often,_ she thought as she did so, _it feels quite good._ She won that battle, but she knew that there were many more of them ahead of her. She sighed. This was going to be hard.

Katara reopened the closet door, and looked for a nightgown to wear to bed. She found a white silk nightgown that looked like a dress, but she knew it was a nightgown. She went to her bed and slipped under the covers, and fell asleep almost instantly.

For once in the Fire Nation Prince's life, he had nothing to say. There was no quick comeback, no witty response, no nothing. If he said anything now, he knew, he would just look like a fool. With nothing left to say, he left the room, wondering what exactly just happened. Did he really go there just to make sure she wasn't planning an escape? Was there another reason for going down there? He shook the thoughts from his mind.

He ran into his Uncle. "How is the Princess?" his Uncle asked him.

"Just fine Uncle, just fine." He said, going to his room to lie down. He didn't want to have to deal with this right now.

Once in his room he undressed, put on his nightclothes, and slipped under the covers of his bed. With the snap of his fingers, all the candles in his room went out. He couldn't sleep that night. He figured the girl would do just fine as bait for the Avatar. He would have used her brother, but the exiled Prince knew that that boy was nothing but trouble. So he picked the girl. She was a girl after all; it wasn't like she could fight back. He was wrong there, she could fight back; she fought with words.

Words, he soon figured out, hurt worse than anything else. Actions were soon forgotten; the sting would eventually fade, and soon would vanish completely. Unlike physical pain, words could stick with you for a long time, even eternally sometimes. The exiled Prince couldn't take the pain the girl's words gave him, so he didn't even bother to see her_. "Did you really think I was going to try to escape?" she had asked him. "Wouldn't that have ruined the point of coming on the ship in the first place?"_ Her words started to haunt the Prince. He blocked out every thought of the girl, forgetting her existence as best he could. He wasn't about to let her get to him. He couldn't let her words get to him. He wouldn't.


	5. Wandering

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 5. Wandering

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

_**Wandering**_

Katara spent most of her time in her room. She really had no where else to go. She had nobody to talk to, and no one even tried. She really didn't want to attempt to wonder the ship, because she was bound to run into the one person she really didn't want to run into. She went to the desk in her room, and found paper in the second drawer on the right, and she found pencils in the first drawer on the left, so she started to write. She couldn't think of anything else to do with her time aboard a Fire Nation ship.

_I remember the story my mother used to tell me when I was younger. It always made me happy. But now it's not so happy. Because that was not a story, it was real. It was my mother's life, and now I have to suffer the consequences of her actions._

_So here I am aboard a Fire Nation ship, and for once, I was not kidnapped. I actually came on my own. I think it was bad judgment, because I know that there is no other reason to stay here willingly. It wasn't as if I asked for this, just the opposite. I didn't want to come here, that awful excuse for a prince dragged me onto the ship. Well not literally of course, in reality, he bribed me to come on the ship. _

_He told me that if I didn't come on the ship, he would make Aang come on the ship, and he would bring him to the Fire Nation palace, and he would be executed. I can't be responsible for my friend's death. No one can make that my responsibility. So I came on the ship._

_It's not like they are being incredibly cruel to me. Actually they are being quite nice. I have a nice room, a walk in closet with a countless number of dresses; I even have my own bathroom, which is more than I can say for when I was travailing with Aang and Sokka. When I was with them, I didn't—ever—get a real bathroom with a real toilet. And usually I was taking a bath in some lake, stream, ocean, or river._

_The first day, Zuko came in my room and asked me something. I replied coldly, not bothering to show emotion. It's not like he deserves it. He hasn't talked to me in at least a week. I wonder if what I said had that much of affect on him that he can't even see me now. Maybe it's for the better though. It's not like I care if he talks to me. I don't even like him. Why would I, he hasn't given me any reason to?_

_My meals are brought in at the same time every day. Breakfast is at eight in the morning, lunch is at noon, and dinner is at six at night. I have a clock in my room and figured that out. I wonder if everyone's meals are brought to them, or am I just special? Do I not get to eat with everyone else? Would I want to eat with everyone else? It's not like there are people on this ship that I care about at all. So, really, does it matter either way?_

_I miss Aang and Sokka so much, and I wish they were here. Well actually I wish that I was with them. _

When she was done she put the piece of paper in the drawer in which she found it, and returned the pencil—which was now dull—back in the first left drawer where she originally found it. She went over to her bathroom and found a brush. She went back to her desk which had a mirror. She took her hair out of her braid and brushed her wavy—on the brink of being curly—hair until it shined. She then took her bangs and put them back, leaving most of her dark brown hair hanging. She then noticed that it dinner had been served to her while she was writing.

She went over to the covered platter and lifted the cover to see a chili type soup and some crackers. There was also some orange drink. She ate the food willingly and when she was done decided to wonder the ship. She couldn't help but feel claustrophobic in her room. Katara figured everyone was eating since dinner was just recently served, so she figured she wouldn't run into the arrogant Prince. She wondered the floor that her bedroom suite was on.

The first one she came to was huge. It had at least fifty beds in it. _This must be where the crew sleeps._ She thought, closing the door that was open when she looked. The next room she saw had a game board in it. She saw a bunch of teapots and teacups scattered about. She first thought that it was Zuko's room, but she couldn't picture him drinking tea. She heard herself giggle as the image of Zuko sipping tea came into her mind. The last door down the corridor was shut and her curiosity was getting to her so she went to it.

She opened it slowly and quietly. She looked in and saw the Fire Nation Prince in a dark room. The only light in the room were the four candles that were in front of the Prince. She stared at him for awhile, watching as the fire of the candles rose and died with his breath. "It isn't nice to snoop." He sighed. The candles went out. Katara, frightened as she was, closed the door and ran back to her room.

She wondered if he would come for her. What would he do? What would he say? She didn't know, and frankly, she didn't want to find out. She went into her bathroom and hid in there. She waited for about five minutes before finally getting out. She figured he would come for her by now if he wanted to speak with her. She went to her closet and found her nightgown. She then put her hair up in the braid as usual and went to sleep, hoping that she—and the Prince—could forget about the incident just moments ago.

Zuko knew that the girl went into his room. He knew that she saw him mediating, and he knew where she went. He waited awhile, and then went after her. By the time he got there she was sleeping. He closed the door behind him, and did as she did, sleep.


	6. Sleepless Nights and Conversations

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 6. Sleepless Nights and Conversations

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

**_Sleepless Nights and Conversations_**

Zuko couldn't sleep that night. He couldn't get the girl off of his mind. "When she was just the waterbending peasant, I didn't think of her at all, and now that she is the Northern Water Tribe Princess, he can't seem to focus on anything other than her. He got out of his bed, and walked to his bathroom. He turned the sink on, and cupped his hands together and took a drink, but it didn't seem to help. He went out to the front of the ship, but stopped dead in his tracks before he would continue.

Zuko saw Katara. She was standing at the very beginning of the ship, and the wind whipped her nightgown all around her. Though you can't normally tell; her soft curls fell lightly around her, blowing around lightly in the wind. She looked peaceful, calm… but Zuko knew that she was furious inside that beautiful body of hers… _What am I thinking?_ Zuko wondered, mentally slapping himself for thinking of this girl as anything more than a way to reclaim his honor, but is that all he wants from her? No matter how hard Zuko tried, he couldn't seem to move away. He was frozen in place, stuck looking at the enchanting Princess that was in front of him.

Suddenly, Katara whipped around, and stared at the Prince who had been watching her for the past ten minutes. At first she looked frightened, and Zuko could tell that something was wrong, but then the Water Princess started to smile. _Was it me? _Zuko wondered. _Did I frighten her, or did I make her smile?_ By the look on her face, it had to be making her smile, but he couldn't tell for sure. He came down to her. "What's wrong?" he asked slowly, trying not to say or do anything incorrect.

"It's nothing," Katara said. Zuko looked at her quizzically. "Really, I just miss Aang and Sokka." She explained. "It's been a long time since I have been away from my brother, you see, he likes to make sure I'm alright all of the time, he checks up on me, like the day you, the day I came on this ship, he was checking on me, then Aang, then me again, every ten minutes… ever since my mother died, he felt more over protective than before, and when our father went to fight in the war, Sokka and I were left with our grandmother. Sokka hasn't really left me out of his sight in a long time, and even though I hated it when he did it, I sort of miss it now that he isn't here to do It." she trailed off. "I'm sorry for exploding on you."

"Oh, it's fine, I asked, now didn't I?" Zuko stated. "But if I may ask, why couldn't that wait until morning?"

"You are such a jerk." Katara said, before heading off to her room.

She got out another piece of paper from her desk and started to write again.

_Ooh, I hate that Prince, he is so ignorant. He can't seem to think of anything or anybody besides himself, and can't wrap his small—pea sized—mind around the fact that not everybody puts themselves ahead of others. He can't seem to grasp that some people actually can miss others and want to be with the people that they love. _

_I wish that maybe he would learn to care about someone other than himself for a change. Maybe he wouldn't be so hard to stand if he gave some thought into how others feel. I hate that stupid, arrogant, pig-headed, Prince._

She put the paper with the other one. She went to her bed, sat there, and cried. She didn't think he would let her talk, explaining all of her problems, and then start patronizing her. She hated him so much it wasn't even possible to describe the hate in words. She fell asleep crying, and when she awoke the next morning, she tried to hide the tear stains, but she wasn't able to do a good enough job before her food was brought in. Zuko came in, carrying a platter, like the morning before—even though the morning before, Katara was sleeping when he brought the food to her—and stared at Katara.

"You've been crying?" it was more of a question than anything else.

She stared right back, a fierce look in her eyes. "Well if you really must know, I fell asleep crying because you were such an arrogant jerk last night."

Zuko flinched when she said those words. He really didn't mean what he said, the words just came out. He couldn't help it. He wanted to say that he was sorry and that he didn't really mean what he said, but the words just wouldn't come out. Instead he walked out of the room trying to control his anger. He hated himself sometimes, he said and did things that he never wanted to do in the first place, he just did them. Only afterwards did he realize what he had done, and then he would regret it.

He used to think something was wrong with him, but he soon realized that nothing was physically wrong with him. He just had this happen when he got angry or confused, or scared. He never really meant anything by what he did. Sometimes he didn't even remember doing it.

He pushed the thoughts that were consuming his brain aside and started to take command of the ship as he would any other day—whether Katara was on the ship or not.


	7. Stop, Please, Stop

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 7. Stop, Please, Stop

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

**Authors note: This chapter is partly the reason for the 'T' rating. Just a warning. Honestly, the chapter title should give it away. One thing that happens in this chapter will not be revealed for quite some time, but just remember it, it will play a part later, I promise.**

_**Stop, Please, Stop**_

**The next night…**

Katara had seen the pain in the Prince's eyes, but she chose to ignore it. She hated being so cold to the guy, and then so nice to him later, but she couldn't control what she was doing and what she felt, anymore than she could control blinking. She went to her closet, and chose a light pink dress for the night, she had stayed in her room all day, and didn't' feel the urge to change out of her pajamas, she brushed her hair, and thought about what her life could have been like if Roji had lived, and Selena and Roji got married. _I would probably have lived in a palace, surrounded by guards. I would have had a million guys wishing to marry me._ It reminded her of some of the other stories her mother used to tell her, like the one of the girl with the really long hair, or the one who lost her slipper. Katara went to her bathroom and turned on the water in the bathtub. She waited until it was the right temperature, and then plugged up the drain. She started to take off her nightgown, when she felt a chilling thought. _Was someone looking at me?_ She turned around, but couldn't see anyone, so she continued. She then got in the hot tub and soaked, thinking about her make-believe life that could have been, until she started to prune.

Zuko later found Katara at the front of the ship again, like she was the night before, except her hair was in her usual braid, and she was wearing a pretty pink dress. He knew that his men on the ship were starting to talk about the Princess, but he ignored it, dismissing it as just talk among the workers. He didn't think anything would come of it. He went up to the girl, trying to act as casual as he possibly could. "So are you still mad at me?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"I can explain, you see, I don't always say what I want to say, and sometimes I do things I don't mean to do. I just… do… things… sometimes." He tried to defend the way he spoke to her the night before, but even he realized how lame it sounded. "Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm really sorry, I was just wondering why you were up so late last night."

She laughed, laughed, "I guess I could ask you the same question." She replied, but then her look became very serious. "I think someone was looking in on me when I was taking a bath not too long ago, it was quite scary. I didn't see anyone, but I just had this feeling…" she said.

Zuko nodded, remembering the talk he heard among the men.

Katara shouldn't have been alone that night, she really, really shouldn't have. If she knew what was going to happen, she would have stayed in her room, and locked the door.

She thought Zuko had talked to his crew members, but he didn't. He and his Uncle had to leave his own ship for some errand or other. The ship was docked at a port along the beach of the town in which Zuko and Iroh were running their errand. Katara wanted to go with him, but he told her that it was too dangerous. This just got Katara upset, and she couldn't sleep, so she wondered around the ship. When she got back to her room, she saw two men in there. Instantly she became frightened. "What are you doing here?" she asked them.

The taller of the two guys smirked. "We just came down to have some fun, what do you say?"

"Get out of my room please." she stated. They didn't leave and she knew what was going to happen, and she was scared, so much so that she couldn't move. If she could have she would have ran. She was more scared in that moment than she had ever been in her whole life. She closed her eyes, and thought _'It's just a dream, it's just a dream.'_ But it didn't work, it wasn't a dream.

The shorter one grabbed her arms, and guided her roughly to the bed. She fought like hell, but nothing could match his strength. "No, please, stop." She uttered silently. "Stop, please, stop," She didn't want this to happen, and wished to god that Zuko would have let her go with him, it couldn't have possibly been as dangerous as this was about to become. "What are you doing?" She asked, griping the sheets under her. She was not only scared of what was about to happen, but what was going to happen to her once they were done. _Would they kill me?_

"Shut up," the voice came from above her. She saw him pause then sigh, like he didn't want to do what he was going to do next, but all the same, seemed to be yearning to do it. The Water Princess started to tighten her grip on the sheets.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked completely and utterly frightened. "Why are you doing this to me?" The Water Princess repeated when the shorter one didn't answer. She started to fight with all she had, she didn't want this to happen; she couldn't let it happen.

"Stop fighting, it will only get worse." The tall one said.

"No, get out. I don't want this, go away, no please…" The helpless girl said. They paused, the one holding my hands loosened his grip. She thought they were going to stop. She hoped they were stopping. To her horror, the one holding her hands held them tighter then he had only minutes before.

"Poor pathetic Princess," one said in mock sadness.

"I think that this is worth It." the shorter one said to the taller one.

"Yeah," the taller one agreed.

"What are you talking about?" Katara asked helplessly.

"He said that he wanted us to have her, and then he was going to take a go at her," said the taller one.

"He's just sick," replied the shorter one.

"Yeah, but we certainty got a good deal, enough gold to last us the rest of our lives."

The two laughed. "Let's finish what we started," the shorter one suggested.

The taller one laughed. "Why don't we?"

The taller one, she saw, went over to the door and shut it, locking it as he went over to the helpless Princess on the bed. The one holding her arms looked at the other one, and the other one started to take of her dress that she had worn that day—ripping it because it wouldn't come off easily enough for him—and the one holding her egged him on.

**Three hours or so before…**

Zuko hated these meetings. They were uninteresting and senseless. Nothing happened. No one shared any information. No one even had anything of importance to say. It was just a few hours every few weeks where everyone who was even remotely involved in the matter that they were discussing could come and complain about the reason for the meeting. This, in Zuko's case, that night, happened to be about the boring and pointless search for the twelve-year-old Avatar named Aang.

Even though Zuko's reason for hunting—what a horrible word, it wasn't as if he was going to really kill the poor kid, but that's what always came to mind when he thought about the Avatar named Aang. In his sometimes sick and twisted mind, he was hunting a little boy who didn't have a choice in the matter.

But it was completely based on legality; the only reason Zuko ever attended. Sure he was banished from the Fire Nation, so he really had no reason to be even somewhat loyal to them, but Zuko had more honor than most men would have in his position. He went to the stupid and pointless meetings, and let the idiots complain about their poor and pathetic problems.

He found himself thinking of his own problems in his life. Like what he was going to do with the girl. He found himself thinking about her as more than just a ticket back home. He thought of her as someone he could love… _Stop it!_ He commanded himself. _She's a way to get back home, a means to and end, a way out of this hellhole, nothing more!_

"Zuko," distant voice breaks through Zuko's thoughts, "Zuko?"

"What?" He asked, almost screaming the four-letter word.

"Why didn't you tell us you had the Avatar's traveling companion, the waterbending girl, on board your ship?" an evil voice inquired tauntingly. Zhao always hated that Zuko could be better than him. And Zuko hated Zhao for the same reason.

"I didn't think it was important." Zuko replied. That was a lie. The truth was that Zuko never even thought about it.

"It's a brilliant plan, using her as bait." Zhao commented, venom spewing from his words. Zuko knew that Zhao just wished that he had thought of it first, and it just made the Prince happier, even though it wasn't even his intention.

Zuko looked at his Uncle. Apparently Iroh found it unimportant too. Because Zhao never mentioned it, Zuko knew that his Uncle had not told the, now, Admiral that Katara wasn't just a waterbending girl, but the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe. Zuko looked at his Uncle, and by the smile on the old man's face, Zuko knew what his Uncle wanted him to do. Iroh wanted him to go along with the rules that he had set. The young Prince decided to play along with his Uncle's apparent game. "Yes, it was a good idea, Admiral." Prince Zuko gave the arrogant Admiral a smirk.

Zhao knew there was something else going on besides what Zuko had told him. So he soon excused himself from the thing that people called a meeting—were they blind—and went around to ask about what was going on around Zuko's ship.

The girl that was apparently aboard Zuko's ship right now was the Avatar's traveling companion, the girl. She was, however, not hard on the eyes. Not by any means. He, in that second, knew that he wanted her. And she is what he would get.

It didn't take him very long to learn that the peasant was not a peasant, but a Princess. Zhao thought about taking the girl himself, and using her as bait, but he figured that the pathetic excuse for a Prince, Prince Zuko, wouldn't be able to pull it off, so he decided to stir up some trouble… just to shake things up a little bit.

Zhao smiled evilly, trouble was practically his middle name… well, if he had one.


	8. The First Outburst

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 8. The First Outburst

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

_**The First Outburst**_

"HELP, SOMEONE ANYONE, HELP ME!" She screamed, and within minutes, Zuko came into the room. The two men let go of a naked Katara instantly. Katara quickly went under the sheets of her bed. It didn't take the Fire Nation Prince long to fight off the two mostly drunken men. How they got drunk is still a mystery. Soon he came over to the Princess who was under her covers crying.

"Shh, it'll be alright, just rest, shh." Zuko said softly. Katara reached over toward the Prince, and held his hand in hers. Her tears stopped soon after, and she fell asleep.

Later, she woke up and managed to remember exactly what just happened. She shivered at the thought. She went to the bathroom, and washed up. She felt dirty, violated in so many ways. She hated herself at that moment. _I could have been… raped… if it wasn't for Zuko. _She thought to herself inside of her head. _Zuko, the same person who has me on this ship, the same person who has been going after Aang for years. Why would he save me? Why would he care? _

After her bath she cleaned up the mess: throwing away the pieces of clothing that used to be a dress, getting new sheets to put on the bed, and a warm blanket to use as a comforter. She put on her silk nightgown, and slipped under her new clean sheets, trying to put the almost rape in the back of her mind, unsuccessfully.

When Zuko couldn't sleep, late that night, he went to check on Katara. After what he saw earlier and what he did to protect her, he was checking on her more frequently. He felt protective of the girl now.

He opened the door silently and walked in. There was no noise from the girl, so he knew she was sleeping. Zuko walked up to her bed and watched her sleep. At first she was quite peaceful in her sleep, and then she began to move and hit the air violently. He stood up and tried to get her to stop. She clawed viciously at him in her sleep.

"Katara, stop," He said, "It's me, Zuko." He tried to hold her down, but it just caused more of a violent reaction.

"No, please stop." She shouted. "I don't want to do this." He stopped trying to get her to stop. "NO!" she screamed before she woke up.

Katara awoke from her nightmare with Zuko by her side. "Please, make them stop." She uttered in a voice hardly audible. Katara looked into Zuko's eyes, and by the look she saw in them, what she said was starting to register. Zuko instantly pulled her into a hug. "I tried to stop them, but they just kept…" she trailed off. She noticed she was crying, and wiped away the tears silently. "They just kept… kept…" she tried to get the words to come out, forced them to come out, but she wouldn't say the word.

"They're gone now, Katara." He told her.

"But they…"

"They didn't." he said. "I got to them before they could." he wiped away the strands of hair that were covering her face. He held her there for a minute, and just waited for her to calm down. "Do you want me to kill them?" he asked her seriously once she was calm.

At first Katara didn't know if he was serious or not, but after looking at him, and seeing the serious look in his eyes she knew that he was. "No," she finally said, "Don't kill them, let them suffer, and when we reach the palace, we can put them in the darkest and deepest dungeons we can find."

Zuko actually smiled at her. "Sounds good to me," Zuko said, looking down at the ground. He then looked at her.

She looked up at the Fire Prince. "I'm sorry." She said timidly.

"For what?" he asked her, looking concerned. "You didn't do anything—"

She cut him off, "That's the point, I almost let them…"

"You don't have to say it, I don't even want to say It." he told her. "What I was trying to say was that you didn't do anything wrong, Katara. I'm the one who should be saying sorry." He looked down.

"You didn't—"

"I should have let you come with me, but I didn't want you around Zhao. He's dangerous, and unpredictable, and… well, I didn't want to take the chance that he would hurt you, but if I didn't get back sooner, those two idiots would have done worse than what Zhao could have ever done… well so I hope anyway." The Fire Prince noticed that he was babbling, so he stopped abruptly. "I'm the one who should be saying I'm sorry." He said right before leaving her in her room.

Zuko went to the prison hold where those two men were locked up. "You imbeciles, do you realize what you put that innocent girl through?" he yelled at the two men, who were suffering through hangovers—ones the Prince hoped stayed for the rest of their miserable lives. "If it weren't for her, you would be dead right now." He informed the two. "She wanted you alive to spend the rest of your worthless lives in a prison cell." He looked at them with pure hatred in his eyes, and then he left the prison hold, going toward his room.

When he got there he saw a glass vase. He threw it at the wall. The glass breaking, the flowers in it falling and the water going all over his bedroom, in a strange sort of way, it actually made him feel better somehow. His anger was making him act out in rage. He couldn't stop. He saw a glass plate and crashed it at the door. A shriek followed and he saw someone come in his room. It didn't stop him. He was outraged. Everything was getting to him, and he was losing control of everything.


	9. The Second Outburst

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 9. The Second Outburst

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

_**The Second Outburst**_

Katara shook all over her body. She couldn't believe she was almost raped. And she couldn't believe that Zuko saved her. She went to sleep but then soon awoke to another nightmare. She couldn't sleep and she knew it, she was too scared of the nightmares that followed the sleep. She took another bath—still feeling incredibly dirty—and put her nightgown on again. The bath didn't help so she went to the desk and she started writing again.

_I was almost raped just a little bit ago, and I am so scared right now. I can't seem to understand what just happened. I can't seem to comprehend the fact that two men just came in my room and tore off my dress, and almost raped me. Lucky for me, Prince Zuko came back from the business that he had to handle and was able to rescue me from the two men. I then had a dream that they actually went through with it. Zuko was there again. It was nice to see him there to reassure me. But then he started to blame himself for what just happened…Why does he think it was his fault?_

_Why do I think it's my fault? _

_It's no one's fault, it just happened, no one could have prevented it. It would have happened regardless… So why do I feel so guilty?_

Katara tried to go back to sleep after she couldn't think of anything to write, but it was pointless to even try. She was more awake than if she just got ten hours of sleep. She heard the glass hit the wall at the end of the corridor. She wondered what the Prince was doing so she wandered to his bedroom. She saw him throw the plate at the door, just in time to move away from the falling shards of glass. She shrieked as it hit the door frame, broken pieces of glass falling down to the floor. She wasn't in the way of it, luckily, but if she would have come a moment later she would have been cut.

She walked to the middle of the room toward the Prince, but he moved. She watched as he broke anything in the room that could have been broke. "Zuko stop it." she shouted at him. She kept shouting it, but it didn't do any good. She walked up to him reluctantly, and grabbed his arm. He whirled on her. "Zuko, you have to stop this." She said. He just pulled away from her. "Zuko, you're scaring me!" she yelled as loud as she could. She was terrified that the exiled Prince would throw something at her. In the back of her mind she knew that he never would, but it didn't make her feel much better at the moment.

By this time almost twenty people were around Zuko's bedroom door, watching as their Prince went crazy. She went over to the door, "Okay, shows over people," she said, "Now get back to work." She shut the door in all of their faces.

Prince Zuko was sitting on the bed that was also broken. She knew that he couldn't sleep in this mess. "Come on," she demanded in a whisper.

"I don't want to go." He told her. Her voice was lost. She took a deep breath, and then let it out.

"I don't care what you want, I just watched you tear this entire room apart, scaring me half to death, so you are coming with me whether you like it or not." She yelled at him when she finally found her voice. She was shaking at what she just witnessed. She was so scared she could hardly breathe, but she forced her self to keep doing what it was that she was doing.

"I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, and will do what I please; no water tribe girl can tell me what to do, even if she is a Princess." He defiantly stated his voice strong.

"OKAY, **_YOUR HIGHNESS_**, I AM GETTING REALLY SICK OF YOUR SUCKY ATTITUDE TOWARDS ME, AND IT HAS TO STOP RIGHT NOW. I AM TIRED OF YOUR STUBBORN, PIG-HEADDED, IGNORANT, SELF-ABSORBED, ARROGANT, AND RUDE BEHIVOR. I AM JUST AS MUCH ROYALTY AS YOU ARE, AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH, EVEN FROM THE PRINCE OF THE FIRE NATION, SO YOU WILL COME WITH ME, OR I WILL DRAG YOU BY YOUR PONYTAIL AND RIP IT OFF IF YOU REFUSE TO COME!" she shouted, completely losing the calmness that used to be there. "IT'S NOT LIKE I HAVE HAD THE MOST WONDERFUL DAY YOU KNOW, SO IT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED IF YOU WOULD JUST DO AS I SAY AND FOLLOW ME." she turned to leave the room. "NOW!"

Zuko was—to say the least—surprised by the waterbender's outburst, and followed her.

Katara led Prince Zuko to her bedroom, and had him lie on her bed, close to the wall. Then she climbed in. _What are you doing Katara? You can't be sleeping with the enemy! I'm not sleeping, sleeping with him, just sleeping with him. _She was having an entire conversation in her head as she managed to talk the Prince into getting into the bed. She wasn't going to do anything with him; she just wanted to make sure he didn't break anything else. _We probably won't even touch in the night_. She assured herself. She smiled at the implied thought behind the thought and concentrated on his breathing. It was rhythmic and she knew that he was asleep. She tried to be too.

When she closed her eyes she fell instantly asleep, but she soon awoke. She felt warm and noticed that she was lying so close to him she could feel his chest expand and contract with air, she then noticed that his arm was wrapped protectively around her. She closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't want this moment to end. For some reason she wished to stay in his arms, and not have to worry about anything anymore. Just stay in that moment and nothing could go wrong.

She slowly and quietly got out of her bed and closed her eyes. For a split second she thought about getting right back in. Instead she went out of her room and out to the back of the ship. She was instantly was bombarded with memories of the attempted rape. She shivered. Then she thought about Prince Zuko's tantrum just a moment ago.


	10. Saving Katara part 1

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 10. Saving Katara part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the movie Titanic, and if I did, I would be on some island in Hawaii.

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

**Author's Note: Hey, there is a little bit of the movie Titanic in this chapter, and I hope you like this. I added and took away a few things, so some things might not be from the movie; I had to make it work.**

_**Saving Katara **_

**_Part 1_**

Zuko awoke soon after the door closed. He wondered where he was, and then looked around to see that he was in Katara's room. He wondered why he was there, then remembered his and her outbursts and remembered her taking him to her room. He remembered sleeping next to her… If they slept next to one another, where was Katara? He faintly remembered her getting out of bed. He groaned, and got up.

He ran to the front of the ship, but couldn't find the Princess anywhere. Did she run away? Then he went to the back of the ship and stopped when he saw the girl. What he saw made his heart skip a beat and he forgot to breath. Katara was climbing over the rail of the ship. He looked around; there was nobody around to shout to, to save her. Zuko watched in fear as he saw Katara completely over the rail of the ship. He finally was able to move again, and he rushed over to the girl he was just thinking about a few moments earlier. "Don't do it." he heard himself say. Her hands, still on the railing, were shaking nervously, as she turned her head to look at him.

"Stay back! Don't come any closer!" She said as she looked at him. He saw the tears come rolling down her face from the glow of the full moon overhead.

"Take my hand. I'll pull you back in." The Prince told her, offering his hand.

"No! Stay where you are. I mean it. I'll let go." The Princess threatened.

"No you won't." Zuko argued, he wasn't even aware of what he was saying, or doing, he just reacted.

"What do you mean 'No I won't?' Don't presume to tell me what I will and will not do. You don't know me." Katara was starting to realize exactly what she was doing, and she wasn't about to admit it then, but she was starting to become really scared. She could feel her heart beating, and it was beating really fast.

Zuko was starting to wonder if he would be able to talk her out of jumping off the ship. "You would have done it already. Now come on, take my hand." He offered his hand again.

She looked at him quizzically, "After everything that has happened, after all the trouble I caused you, after everything you and I saw… because of each other…" she looked at him intently, "Why would you want to save me?" she asked the question as if she really didn't know the answer.

Zuko really didn't have an answer. "I… I don't… I don't really know, I guess it would be wrong of me to let you kill yourself wouldn't it?"

"That's not a reason, its instinct." Katara told him.

"I'm human, aren't I? Don't I have instincts too?"

"Wouldn't it be better if I was gone? It's hard to live my life. I can't get through one single day without something happening to me ever since you told me about my apparent other life as a Princess. Maybe the world would be better off if I was dead."

"Would it?" Zuko asked, "Are you trying to convince me of that, or yourself? Do you really want to do that, or are you looking for a reason to give yourself so when you do it would be a justified death, and not seemingly meaningless?" Zuko was asking the questions to give himself something to say to keep her from jumping.

"You're distracting me. Go away." The water Princess snapped.

"I can't. I'm involved now. If you let go I have to jump in after you." The Fire Prince replied.

"Don't be absurd. You'll be killed." She realized that if he would be killed, so would she. And she was starting to become even shakier. The heavy winds that night made her white silk nightgown blow left and right, and she wasn't sure if she could hold on to the railing any longer.

"I'm a good swimmer." Zuko told her. She figured as much, what with him living on a ship for the past few months.

"The fall alone would kill you." Katara protested.

"It would hurt. I'm not saying it wouldn't. To be honest I'm a lot more concerned about the water being so cold." Zuko said.

That caught the girl's attention. She never thought about the temperature of the water "How cold?" she asked. She looks out at the water, wondering.

"Freezing," Zuko told her, he shrugged, "Maybe a couple degrees over." He looked into her eyes. "I fell in the water once, and it was so cold…like that right down there... it hits you like a thousand knives all over your body. You can't breath, you can't think... least not about anything but the pain. Which is why I'm not looking forward to jumping in after you, but like I said, I don't have a choice. I guess I'm kinda hoping you'll come back over the rail and get me off the hook here."

She looked at him, "You're crazy." She said.

"That's what everybody says. But with all due respect, I'm not the one hanging off the back of a ship." Looking at her he sighed, "Come on. You don't want to do this. Give me your hand."

She looked into his eyes, and sees fear. _Is he as scared as I am right now?_ She wondered "Alright," she finally caves. She unfastened one hand from the rail and reached it around toward him. He reached out to take it, firmly. Katara started to turn. Now that she decided to live, the height was terrifying. She was overcome by dizziness as she shifted her footing, turning to face the ship. As she started to climb, her white silk nightgown got in the way, and one foot slips off the edge of the deck.


	11. Saving Katara part 2

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 11. Saving Katara part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the movie Titanic, and if I did, I would be on some island in Hawaii.

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

**Author's Note: Hey, there is a little bit of the movie Titanic in this chapter, again. Sorry about the shortness, but I liked the nice happy ending.**

_**Saving Katara **_

**_Part 2_**

She plunged, letting out a piercing shriek. Zuko, gripping her hand, was jerked toward the rail. Katara barely grabbed a lower rail with her free hand. "Help, Help," Katara screamed. She was petrified. She wasn't as scared before when she was actually thinking of jumping off, but now, she can't seem to be anything but scared.

"I've got you. I won't let go." Zuko told a franticly moving Katara. He was scared that he might actually let her go, and then she would fall. He would have to jump in after her, and he didn't think either would make it. Zuko held her hand with all his strength, as he braced himself on the railing with his other hand. Katara tried to get some kind of foothold on the smooth ship. Zuko tried to lift her body over the railing. She couldn't get any footing in her nightgown, and she slipped back. Katara screamed again.

Zuko, awkwardly clutching Katara by whatever he could get a grip on as she flailed, got her over the railing. They fell together onto the deck in a tangled heap, spinning in such a way that Zuko wound up slightly on top of her. They were both breathing heavily, and they couldn't catch their breath, so Zuko stood up, Katara followed soon after. Once they could breath Katara said, "Thank you," her eyes looking everywhere but at the Fire Prince.

Zuko looked at Katara. "We should… we should probably be getting to bed." He said.

"Yes, we probably should." She agreed.

The two went off in different directions, and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.


	12. The Other Option

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 12. The Other Option

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

**Author's Note: How was this chapter?**

_**The Other Option**_

The next morning, Katara awoke. She vaguely remembered almost falling, and Zuko saving her. _Wait a moment, Zuko saved me?_ She couldn't think of anyone else who had a scar covering most of the left side of his face. _Why would he save me? Wouldn't he rather I was dead?_ She couldn't make anything out of it, and she couldn't for the life of her remember why she was over the edge in the first place. She looked toward the table that held a silver tray. She got out of her bed and walked over to it.

On the tray was her breakfast. She started eating right away. The commotion from last night sure made her hungry. After she ate she examined her nightgown. It had no tearings on it at all, and she found it hard to believe that with all she went through last night that it had not tore at all. She started to think that it was a dream.

She then went to her closet, and looked for something to wear. She found a blue dress, and took it with her when she went to her bathroom to take a bath. When she came out, she laid on her bed, and thought. Her thoughts were soon broken when her door opened.

It was Zuko's Uncle. "How are you this morning?" he asked her. She hadn't seen the man before, and looked a bit frightened after what happened not many nights ago. "Oh, I seemed to forget my manors, I am Zuko's Uncle, Iroh."

Katara was finally able to talk. "I'm Katara." She said, "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine, Princess Katara." Iroh chuckled.

The girl was taken aback by the word Princess. She knew that she was one, but it still hasn't completely sunk in yet. "Could you please just call me Katara?" the girl asked.

"Sure, if that's what you want, but when we get to the Palace, people will call you Princess Katara. So I was thinking you might want to get used to it." He told her pointedly.

"Why?" she asked.

"Well, you are the Northern Water Tribe Princess. Everyone is required, at least in the Fire Nation, to call royalty Prince, Princess, King, or Queen, depending on what they are, and you are the Princess, whether you want to be or not." He explained. Katara could tell that he was hiding something, but she decided that it wasn't of importance.

"I hate this." Katara uttered.

"You'll get used to it." Iroh told her.

"It's not just that, but I don't want to give away my peoples' land, I also don't want Aang to die." She said.

"There is another way…" Iroh muttered.

"What is it?" the girl asked.

"Well, you probably won't like it, and neither will Prince Zuko…"

"I'll do anything."

"Uncle!" Zuko screamed at Iroh.

"What?" Iroh tried to defend himself. "She would have found out eventually."

"But I didn't want her to find out." The Prince told his Uncle.

"She never said she was going to, you know."

"But you put the idea in her head, and now she will be thinking about it and after last night…"

"What happened last night?" Zuko's Uncle wanted to know. Iroh was a curious man, and once you say something, you can't take it back.

"Nothing." Zuko said and started to walk out the door.

Iroh followed. "What happened last night between you and the Princess?"

"I saved her from jumping off the back of the ship, alright?" Zuko said, and walked off to his room to think about what his Uncle just did.

Iroh smiled. He could tell that there was more going on between the Fire Nation Prince, and the Northern Water Tribe Princess.

He just wondered how long it would take the two in question to figure it all out.


	13. Already

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 13. Already

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

_**Already **_

"_You could marry him." he told me. "You would have some control over what happens to your peoples' land, but so would the Fire Lord." _

"_I can't marry him, I don't even like him!" I told Zuko's Uncle._

"_Well then, you know what you're decisions are."_

"_This is bad, no matter what way I look at it, I have to hurt someone."_

"_What do you mean?" he asked._

"_If I give the Fire Lord the land, I hurt my people. If I don't give the Fire Lord the land, I hurt Aang. And if I marry Zuko, I hurt myself."_

"_Which two would hurt most?" Iroh asked before he left my room._

_I had a decision to make, and I knew that it wasn't going to be an easy decision, but I had to make it anyway. I just wish that it wasn't now. Maybe tow or three years from now this wouldn't be so bad, but I don't want to be married at fourteen. It isn't right. Well actually I am of marrying age, but I don't want to be married to Zuko. I don't like him. He is an evil, pompous jerk._

Katara put the paper in the drawer and the pencil in its drawer, reflecting on the words the wise man just told her. She hated this. She hated all of it. Every decision was horrible, and every decision would make her angry.

"_You could marry him." he told her. "You would have some control over what happens to your peoples' land, but so would the Fire Lord."_

Iroh's words kept circling around in Katara's mind.

She didn't want to give away her peoples' land, she didn't want to be the reason for Aang's death, and she didn't want to marry Zuko. No matter what way she looked at it, her choice was not easy.

"_Which two would hurt most?"_

She couldn't stand to lose Aang, so that was out of the question. She didn't even know her people, but she wouldn't have liked her land to be given to the Fire Lord, when she lived in the Southern Water Tribe.

That left one option: Marrying Prince Zuko.

She couldn't deal with these trivial matters right now. She didn't want to. She decided to go above deck. She went to the front of the ship, and watched the water. She thought about everything that could happen if she married Zuko, their enemy. _Sokka would hate me and Aang wouldn't forgive me, but isn't Aang's life more important than his forgiveness. Maybe this is just wishful thinking, but maybe Aang as Sokka would come around. Maybe they will accept my being with Zuko. _

_But I don't even want to be with him. I don't like him; I don't even care about him. How can I marry a guy I don't like or care about, let alone love? Maybe I should have fallen off the ship last night. The world would certainly be better off if I was dead. Then none of this would matter, my people's land would be safe, and so would Aang. But wouldn't Zuko go after Aang anyway? If I'm gone, there's nothing stopping him._

Later that evening, Katara found Iroh at the front of the ship. "Did you make a decision as to what you are going to do?" the old man asked the young Princess.

"Yes," she said. She looked at him, staring into his eyes. They held a lot of knowledge. Knowledge that most will never acquire. "What would you say if I said that I wanted to marry Zuko?" she asked him.

Iroh smiled. He knew that she would say this, and he already knew something that neither teenager knew. "I would say…" he started. "That you two are already married."

"What?" Katara asked, completely bewildered.

"Well, once Zuko brought you on this ship I made contact with the Fire Lord. He is Zuko's father, and is the reason Zuko is here trying to capture the Avatar, so I told him that you were coming to the Fire Nation palace, and that you either had to resist, and let Aang come rescue you only to be executed,—which I, and Zuko though he wouldn't admit to it, don't agree with—you could give up your land willingly—which I doubted you would do—or you could marry a royal firebender. And since Zuko's dad is already married, even though his mother… well his father is taken, and his sister is obviously a girl, the only one left is Zuko, so I told the Fire Lord that I knew that that is the decision you were going to choose, so he arranged the marriage, and it has long since been set into motion, I just had to let it come into play at it's own time." Iroh explained.

"But how did you know that I would want to…"

"I didn't think you'd see your friend dead, and I had serious doubts that you would give up the land willingly, so it was the only other option." He said, still wearing a smile on his face.

"So let me get this straight, you told the Fire Lord that I was going to make that decision even before I knew that I _could_ make that decision?" she asked.

Zuko's Uncle nodded.

"Then you told me about the choice?"

He nodded again.

"_Then_ you let me decide, even though the decision was already made, and now you tell me that Zuko and I are already married?"

"Katara and I are WHAT, Uncle?" Zuko shouted from behind the Water Princess.


	14. Thinking

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 14. Thinking

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

_**Thinking**_

"_Well, you and the Princess are—" Iroh started, but Katara cut him off. _

"_We are married." Katara told the shocked Prince. She was hysterical at this just as much as Zuko was, but she hid it better than the firebender. She mentally told herself never to tell him what he didn't want to hear, but soon regretted the decision. She knew that he needed to be kept in the loop, as did she. She looked at Zuko's Uncle, and with her eyes, pleaded with him to leave them alone. _

_Iroh nodded, and left without saying a word to his nephew. He figured his wife would do a better job at calming him down, even if they both didn't know it. He knew that the two had a connection, even if they couldn't see it, and he wasn't about to get in between their argument. _

"_We're MARRIED? How did this happen?" the Prince asked in a rage as soon as his Uncle had left._

"_Well, you see, apparently your Uncle told the Fire Lord that we were to be married, and he made arrangements as soon as he found out, and in fact, we are married." Katara tried to explain. She tried her best to be excited, but she couldn't be happy to be married, not to Zuko. Not right now._

"_You are kidding me, right?" Zuko asked Katara. "You and my Uncle are just trying to play a joke on me right?" When the Prince looked at the Princess he knew that she wasn't joking._

"_I'm sorry, but this is no joke." She told him solemnly. _

"_He did this just to punish me, didn't he?" Zuko asked, more to himself than to Katara._

"_No, your Uncle loves you, he wouldn't do this unless he thought it best—" Katara said, but was cut off by Zuko._

"_No, not my Uncle, my father," Zuko said, but he didn't explain, he just left Katara standing there._

_Katara groaned. She sat down on the bench that looked out toward the ocean. She was married to the person she hated most in the world. She was married to the enemy. She didn't want to do this, she really wished that she wasn't going to, but she couldn't stop it now. Not unless she wanted exceptionally terrible things to happen to the people she loved._

_She started to think about Aang and everything that they have been through. Then she thought about her brother. Could she really betray the both of them? Yes. If it meant keeping Aang alive she could. She knew that her brother would hate it. She knew that when he found out he would kill the Fire Prince. He might even kill him with his bare hands. For some reason, as much as she hated the Prince, she didn't want him dead. She didn't want her husband dead._

_Wow, that was going to get some getting used to. Never, in a million years, would she have thought she'd be saying that Zuko was her husband. She also never thought she would turn out to be a Princess, but look how that turned out._

_Soon the Water Princess felt the tears fall down her face. She wiped them away dismissively, trying to pretend that she was fine. She went into her room and changed into her nightgown, let her hair down, and lay upon her bed. _

"But I don't love him." she said aloud to herself. She was still in her room, lying on her bed, contemplating everything that has gone on that day. "I don't love Zuko, I never will." She said. She couldn't sleep that night. How could she? "I am married to a person that I don't even love, and never could." She sighed. "I am going to be the Princess of the Water, and Fire Nations. I am going to be the Fire Lady when Zuko takes the throne. I will be the Fire Lady to a growing empire that killed my mother, and most likely my father...both my fathers. I will have to be Zuko's wife in every way…" she stopped suddenly.

A thought came to her as she said that last sentence. "If I am married Zuko that means that I will have to give him children, I will literally have to sleep with the enemy." She said her thought out loud; hoping that somehow, someone would tell her different, but no one was going to. Sokka would never go for that. She knew that her brother would almost rather Aang died than have her give Zuko children. Thankfully, Sokka wasn't so evil as to _really_ see Aang dead to protect her. Would he? Did she even need protecting?

Yes, Zuko had been chasing the gang for who-knows-how-long, and yes, he hasn't given any sympathy to anyone of them, but he had saved Katara from being raped, and from falling off the ship into cold waters that could have killed her. He did almost kill her in his room the other night when he started throwing everything though. Would he really hurt her?

Her immediate answer was a quick and simple 'Yes.' But nothing was quick and simple. When she thought it over, she realized that he wouldn't hurt her; not on purpose anyway. She knew, though, that her brother didn't care if he _did_ hurt her… just that he _could_. She also knew that if Sokka tried to kill Zuko, the Fire Prince would fight back, and they would fight until one or the other died.

Katara gave a piercing shriek and yelled "NO!" at the thought of her brother dying. But was she really just worried about her brother?


	15. The Promise

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 15. The Promise

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

_**The Promise**_

Katara's door flung open almost immediately after her outburst. Zuko rushed to her bed. "Katara?" he asked frantically. She couldn't answer him, she was shaking. "Katara, are you alright?" The Prince lit the candles in the room with a simple thought. He looked at the frightened girl, by now she was sitting up, but she wouldn't answer him. "Katara, can you talk?" he asked her. She didn't give him any indication either way. He saw the tears fall down her face. He saw the terrified look in her sapphire eyes. He saw her entire body shaking. "Katara, please, talk to me." He said, becoming desperate. What was wrong with her?

"You'll… he'll… you'll kill…" She uttered in her trembling condition.

"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked calmly. She didn't answer him. Zuko sat on the bed next to Katara, and pulled her close to him. He stroked her hair as he waited for her to calm down. Why was he being so nice to the girl? Sure, he was married to her, but he hasn't cared about her before, so why would this be any different? He was only marrying her because his father wanted her lands. It's not like he actually loves her. Does he? He was about to pull away when she stopped crying. She wasn't shaking anymore.

Katara pulled away from Zuko, and wiped away her tears. "Zuko?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Can you promise me something?" she asked him.

"What is it?" he asked. She thought there was actually a hint of concern in his voice. It's not like he has never showed concern for her before. He saved her twice already! But this is different. He had to save her the other two times, because she was in physical danger, but she isn't in any danger this time, maybe emotional danger, but all she did was just cry out. Sure, it made her cry a little, and yes, she was a little shaky, but nothing is physically wrong. He doesn't have to be here.

"Can you promise me that you will not kill my brother…or Aang?" she asked him.

"Well, if all goes as planned, my father will allow me back in the Fire Nation and I will get the throne when I become of age and my father dies… I don't plan on killing the Avatar, and I have no reason to kill your brother…"

"That's not what I mean." Katara exclaimed.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that when Aang and Sokka find out that we are…married… well, I know my brother well enough to know that he isn't going to like it. He will most likely try to find me and when he does, you will probably be near by, and if he sees you… He'll think that you have hurt me in someway—I know that you would never…but Sokka doesn't. He's only seen you as our enemy…" she stopped. "Aang will be with him, and Sokka will probably try to kill you, and Aang will not just sit around and do nothing." She looked up at her husband. "I just want you to promise me that you will not kill them. Not over me."

Zuko looked down at the girl. "I promise not to kill the Avatar or your brother if they try to kill Me." he said. Then his face got serious, "But don't think that I will not hesitate to hurt them if they try anything. I said I won't kill them, but that doesn't mean I can't hurt them."

She was about to protest to this, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew where he was coming from. She knew that Zuko valued honor, and she knew that in his eyes, giving up was a weakness, and, according to him, there was no honor in weakness—not to Zuko anyway. She sighed. "Fine," she then went under her covers and laid her head down on her pillow as a sign to the Prince to let her go back to sleep.

"Goodnight, Katara." The Prince said as he left her room.

"Goodnight Zuko." She replied, and went to sleep.


	16. One Day Until We Reach Land

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 16. One Day Until We Reach Land

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

**Authors note: In The song verse that is in this chapter is: Hanging by a Moment, by Lifehouse.**

_**One Day Until We Reach Land**_

The next morning, after breakfast, Katara went to Zuko's room to find him asleep. "So much for rising with the sun," she thought out loud as she looked at him. Then again, she did keep him up for a long time last night. She looked around the room to see that it was still messy from before. She started to pick up everything she could—silently, of course. When she got down to the glass that was strewn about, she found a broom and a dust pan in a closet just outside of his room, and she started sweeping his room, careful not to step on any of the broken glass shards.

Katara looked over at the Prince when she was done cleaning the room. She went over by his bed and sat on it. She watched him sleep. He looked peaceful as he slept. He wasn't fighting anything in his sleep. She saw him start to stir and got ready for is awakening. When his eyes fluttered open slowly, she smiled down at him. "Good morning sleepyhead." She greeted him.

Zuko mumbled something along the lines of "Good morning." When he finally was able to sit up, he noticed that his room was clean. "Who cleaned my room?" he asked.

"I did." Katara told him.

"You shouldn't have." He said, "You could have cut yourself."

"Why do you care if I get cut by a piece of glass?" she asked.

"I don't," was the Prince's stubborn reply. The Prince, of course, did care, he was just stubborn. He had just woken up, and was not yet able to be nice. He tried to seem like he didn't care, but as much as he didn't want to, he did care.

"Well if you don't care, than why did it matter if I did or not?" she asked him.

The Prince gave no answer, just laid there. Katara got fed up with the Prince's annoying attitude, so she sighed, and left the room. She went back to her room and took a bath. Only after her bath did she realize that she forgot her clothes. She got as much water out of her hair as she could at the moment, and wrapped a towel around her body. She was singing as she did this.

"_Forgetting all I'm lacking  
completely incomplete  
I'll take your invitation  
you take all of me now_

_I'm falling even more in love with you  
letting go of all I've held onto  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you_

_I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and not quite sure where to go  
and I don't know what I'm diving into  
just hanging by a moment here with…_"

Katara stopped suddenly, she realized that her room was not empty. "…you." She finished when she saw Zuko. She quickly made sure that the towel was not revealing anything, and went to her closet.

Zuko didn't say anything, what would he have said, all he did was blink.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked from inside her closet.

"I'm...I'm sorry, I'm not used to knocking." was his excuse.

Katara got dressed in her closet, and when she was done, the towel was not with her, she left it in the closet.

"I'm sorry." Zuko repeated, "I was just going to apologize for what I said earlier… the truth is that I do…" he stopped, for some reason he couldn't admit to caring. Why couldn't he admit that he cared for his wife? What was so wrong about that? "I didn't know you were going to be in a…"

"Its okay, what's done is done." she said, dismissing the whole thing. She had to be nice to him anyway, why not start now.

She was taking this better than she thought she would have been. Why didn't she yell at him? Why did she just dismiss the incident as if it didn't happen? _He's my husband, he will be seeing me in way less than a towel… he will probably be seeing me in nothing at all…_ Katara stopped herself right there. She couldn't do that to herself. She went over to the vanity, and started to brush her hair. It was already dry for the most part, so she didn't have to bend the water out. She just left it down after that.

"Where did you learn that song?" Zuko asked, "It doesn't seem very…"

Katara laughed, "Traditional?" she asked. Zuko nodded. "It doesn't sound traditional because it isn't. My my mother was a wonderful singer. She made up the song a long time ago; she said it was about my father. When I was older, she taught it to me. Each one of her songs has a special meaning, and this one…well this one is actually…" she wanted to say that she was thinking of him when she started singing it, but then he would think… "This one is my favorite." She lied.

"I like it; it's very good, different, but good." Zuko said.

Katara smiled, "Thank you." She said.

Zuko said that he had to go, but right before he left, he turned around. "Oh, I was going to tell you, we are going to be arriving at the palace within the day, so you might want to pack up your things. There are trunks in the storage area, I'll have someone bring some up, how many do you think you'll need?"

"Um," Katara mentally calculated in her head, "Probably about ten." She told him.

"Ten?" he asked surprised.

"Did you see how many clothes I have?" she asked him.

"You're room at the palace will have clothes already in them you know?" he told her, trying to talk her out of needing ten trunks.

She didn't budge on the matter though. "So? I want all of my clothes brought to my room at the palace, along with all of my makeup, and bath things, and anything else in this room." she told him. She smirked, "And that's an order."

"Whatever." Zuko said and rolled his eyes. Though, Katara knew that Zuko would get those ten trunks brought up here.

**Authors note: This story, I'm afraid, is coming to an end. The next chapter will be the last chapter, but do not be afraid, and don't cry. Princess Katara: now wife to Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation has a lot of adventures ahead. This story is becoming a trilogy, as the title now sugests. The second part will be up shortly...depending on reviews for the next two chapters.**


	17. Reaching Land

Title: A Love That Couldn't Be Part 1: A Forced Love

Author: WishHe-LovedMe

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Chapter: 17. Reaching Land

_Summery: Katara isn't a water peasant as Zuko seems to enjoy calling her. Her birthright entails her a lot more than that. This is the story of Katara; and how she discovered her past, controls her present, and forms her future. Zutara_

_**Reaching Land**_

Katara was right, the trunks were soon brought to her room, and the interesting thing about all of them was that they all matched. They all had sapphire velvet on them with diamonds that glittered to no end and silver string that went around the boxes like vines. It was like they were made just for her. She decided not to question it though. She knew that they were probably just for her. Why would they be on this ship for any other reason? "Someone's a good shopper." She quietly said to herself. She really liked them.

Katara started to take out all of the clothes in her closet. This gave her a chance to admire all of them. Some of them were fancier than some of the others, but none of them were not fancy each one of them had a certain beauty to them. Some of the dresses had diamonds, or sapphires, or rubies, or pearls, or some other type of mineral, some glittered, and some were just solid colors. Katara folded each one and put them in a trunk. Then she went to her desk and took the pieces of paper that she had written on and some extras in case she wanted to use them. She also took a few pencils. Then she went to her vanity and took any makeup or styling product and put them in trunks too.

By the time she was finished all ten trunks were filled. She smiled with pride and left her room. She found Zuko at the front of the ship and told him to make sure that all of the trunks were to be brought to her room at the palace immediately following her arrival. He muttered something in a whisper that she didn't hear. "What did you say?" she asked.

"Nothing… just that you will fit in just fine at the palace." Zuko said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Katara demanded.

"Just that you sure are demanding, just like every other Prince, Princess, King, or Queen." Zuko explained.

"Whatever." Katara dismissed the conversation. She started to walk away.

"Wait a moment." Zuko started. Katara turned around to face him. "Did you really use all ten trunks?" he asked.

Katara laughed. "Yes, I used every single one, and filled them as much as I could. I have to tell you, boy, are they heavy." She said as she smiled.

"Girls." Zuko muttered.

"Why do you have to be so stereotypical?" the Princess asked Zuko. She realized that she was raising her voice, but she didn't care.

"I'm not stereotypical." Zuko said.

"Oh, please, you are so stereotypical it's not even possible to tell you how stereotypical you really are." Katara yelled at him. "Understand this: boys are **_no_** stronger than girls, girls **_do not _**always pack more than guys (just wait until your Uncle comes out here), girls can do **_anything_** boys can do (and they can probably do it better), and girls are not so **_helpless_** that they need a guy to protect them." Katara lowered her voice and muttered, "Why can't I meet one guy who isn't the least bet sexist?" she stormed off.

Katara soon realized that she had nothing to go to in her room, because everything was already packed and ready to go. She sighed and went back to the front of the ship and found Zuko standing in the same place she left him. He had the funniest look on his face; it was like he was wondering "What just happened?"

Katara started to laugh, and the Prince finally snapped out of it. This time it was Zuko who stormed off. Zuko's Uncle walked up to the Princess soon after Zuko left. Katara was still recovering from laughter.

"So, was that your first fight?" he asked, also finding Katara's eruption funny.

"You could call it that." she said.

"Look right ahead of you, do you see that land?" Iroh asked.

"Yeah, I do. Is that the palace?"

"Yes, it is."

"How long?" Katara asked.

"Until what,"

"Until we reach land,"

"Oh, about a half an hour." Iroh replied and went off to tell the crew that they were almost at their destination.

Katara sighed. This was the start to a new life for her. When she steps foot on land again, she will become the wife of the Fire Nation Prince, and the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe. Everything she knew was about to change. She didn't really know if she could handle it. _What if I can't handle it? What if I lose myself completely?_ She knew that she wouldn't let that happen.

**Authors note: This is, sadly, the end of this story. It isn't over though, for there is a sequel on the way. The more reviews I get for this chapter, the more likely I will be to update faster. I'm giving a huge thanks to all who have reviewed to this story, because you guys are the reason I finished it.**

**Look forward to the sequel, it's called: "A Love That Couldn't Be Part 2: A Trying Love." Seeing a pattern?**

**As for the sequel to the sequel…I don't know when it'll be done, or if it will be done. I'll give you more information on that at the end of Part 2.**

**-Alyssa**

**P.S. If you caught any errors in this fic, tell me. I plan on going through it again and fixing them. And it would be really nice to know what you guys caught. **


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